In Production

Joel had booked an interview with Sarah Sativa, a prominent cannabis campaigner. Unfortunately I could not be there for the interview so James kindly stepped in and offered to record sound. He admitted to being a bit rusty with the sound so I went through the kit he would use for the interview and how best to use it. 

For the interviews I decided it was best to record with the Sennheiser 416 as it is a mono mic with a narrow pick up field to filter out any unnecessary background noise. It would be extended on a boom pole just out of frame to reduce to signal to noise ratio. If we were filming on a DSLR we would record the audio to a Zoom h5/h4n as DSLRs aren't built to handle audio. However if we are filming on the XF305 we would record straight to the camera as it would save time trying to sync it up in post.

Are next interview was with another cannabis campaigner. I was available for this one and we were filming with a Canon XF305, this meant I could record straight into the camera as it has XLR inputs. It did mean however that I had to stand behind the camera while recording so I could monitor and adjust the levels where necessary. Due to standing so far back the boom pole was extended quite far so Joel thoughtfully took a break mid-interview so I could put it down for a few minutes.

A photo of us recording our second interview


We are planning on using some stylish looking footage as cutaways while we can hear the voices for the interviews. I thought it would be useful to get some sounds to go with these cutaways such as the lighting and smoking of a joint. I used a lapel microphone to try and recreate some of the sounds made. I felt it was a suitable microphone as I could get extremely close to the subject due to tiny size of the microphone. I also recorded with a sample rate of 96khz, which gives the audio a higher resolution, to give me maximum flexibility in post if I wanted to slow the audio down.

 Recording the sound of a lighter (using the book as a kind of stand to clip the mic onto)

 Attempt 1. at trying to recreate the sound of a joint burning by placing the mic on an incense stick

Attempt 2. Using rolled up plastic sheet and letting it expand next to the mic

Attempt 3. Rolling up cling film into a ball around the microphone head and letting it unravel. This worked best as it provided quite a realistic crackling sound.

I had to record all these sounds in my bathroom as there was too much background noise in my room due to the busy road outside.

I had seen a TED Talk on YouTube about recording sound effects and it mentioned that the sound of clingfilm unravelling could be used to replicate the sound of a cigarette being smoked. This gave me the idea to try and create that sound.

I also did a small amount of research using the book The Sound Effects Bible (Ric Viers, 2008)

The Sound Effects Bible by Ric Viers  

For our third and final interview Joel had arranged a woman who would like to remain anonymous. By this point I had been inducted and allowed access to radio mics. I decided to use them for this interview as they are a lot less invasive and intimidating to the interviewee than a mic on a boom pole. This means you often get more honest answers as they can forget they're wearing it.

Tom couldn't be there for this interview so Amy and I filmed. We used an LED light panel to fill the background so the interviewee would be in darkness in the foreground. Amy also filmed close up shots that also retained her anonymity.

Radio mic set up with Zoom h5

Interview set up

Sound log sheet for anonymous interview

Sync Sound Session

This week we had a session with Neil Webb and Dom Green on the best approaches to filming with synced up audio. 

For example if I was filming with a DSLR and recording my audio with a boom mic and a Zoom h5 there are things I can do that will help me in post to sync up the audio to the video.

 The most commonly used and effective method is to use a clapper board. This, when written on correctly, tells us information about what we're shooting and when the clap stick is shut it creates a good sharp snapping sound that we can sync up with the frame of the white stripes being joined together. It is also helpful to shout the information on the board so the sound editor has the clip information. Some sound recordists also like to create a sync point after a take is over. To do this they will do the same procedure but turn the board upside down so the editor knows it's the end of the shot.

A Clapperboard

Other techniques I could use is to clap in front of the camera or to tap the bottom of the microphone in shot. These both create quick sounds that match an image.


We also learnt about the functions of different microphones:

Omni-Directional mics, such as lapel mics, record evenly around itself but only to a certain proximity.

Cardoid mics have a heart shape pick up pattern, rejecting sounds from immediately behind it.

Directional mics, such as the Sennheiser 416, record only directly in front of the mic only. This is useful for rejecting background sounds and getting the audio from only a certain area.


When recording dialogue on set or in an interview situation it should always be recorded in mono as the dialogue should always be at the centre of the mix as it's normally the most pivotal component.

We were also taught the procedure for recording directly into the camera. This can be more time efficient as you don't have to worry about syncing up the sound in post.



For our documentary I intend to record the interview audio using a Sennheiser 416 shotgun mic as this should eliminate most background noise and records in mono. Depending on what camera we're using I'll either record directly into the camera or record seperately to a Zoom recorder being careful to create sync points to help in post production.

In terms of cutaway scenes in between or over the top of interviews I intend on getting high quality audio of cannabis being smoked. It could be useful to use a lapel microphone to record some of these sounds as due to its size I can get really close the source minimising the signal to noise ratio.

Documentary Pitches

Over the course of this week we discussed various ideas we had for documentaries. We finally settled on two ideas which we presented in our 5 min pitch. Joel, as producer, was very keen on doing a documentary about the Sheffield Cannabis Community. As an active member he has many contacts for interesting people campaigning for the legalisation and/or the decriminalisation of cannabis.   We all felt most confident with this idea due to Joel having contacts that wouldn't be too hard to get hold of and could hopefully add interesting points. The documentary would question whether the health benefits could be strong enough grounds to put it's illegality into question and if it deserves the Class B drug listing it currently has. 
Our second idea was for a documentary on the sex establishments in Sheffield. It would look into the moral connotations of such places and whether they should be a part of Sheffield. Joel knows a stripper that works in Spearmint Rhinos (a strip club). 
Overall though we weren't to confident in this idea as we couldn't imagine many landlords of  these establishments would be too happy for us to be bringing cameras and microphones into their clubs. 

After a 5 minute pitch to the seminar group it was decided that the documentary on cannabis was the best option.
The slideshow from our pitch.

Skateistan - A Short Analysis

Skateistan opens with a stark and grisly view of modern day Kabul, Afghanistan. It depicts scenes of an arduous lifestyle combined with the backdrop of recent wars. These bleak images culminate to a shot of a decapitated goat's head lying on the ground with a 17 year old Murza and his friends skating past it in the background.  

Skateistan is an educational skateboarding school in Kabul. The film shows how this organisation has transformed the toilsome and treacherous lives of these young people and given them something positive to focus on and enjoy. 

Murza comments that passers by look on them skating strangely and that some of them think they are "attached to the boards through some sort of magnetic field.". This reveals the fact that a lot of people go uneducated in Afghanistan as schools and education systems are still quite a new concept there. 

Skateistan highlights the progressive values that the school is introducing in Kabul. It is growing in popularity with females, which for a very conservative country, causes a bit of controversy. It tells the story of Fazilla who is 12 years old and sells chewing gum on the streets. She says her father and many other people disagree with her skating as she is a girl. She says quite profoundly, "their opinions are meaningless to me...I really like skating and I won't stop". Segments like these reveal how intelligent these young children are and how a better education system in Afghanistan would only be a catalyst for their brightness. 

The youth of Kabul skating through a ruined building in Skateistan

Franklin Dow's cinematography is breathtaking and does an incredible job of showing warmth and hope in a seemingly desolate and unfriendly place. Overall I think this short documentary does a great job of showing possibilities and a positive look on the future generation of a country that has stayed in the past through the development of the rest of the world.